The blog for Mets fans
who like to read

ABOUT US

Greg Prince and Jason Fry
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.

Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here.

Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here.

Got something to say? Leave a comment, or email us at faithandfear@gmail.com. (Sorry, but we have no interest in ads, sponsored content or guest posts.)

Need our RSS feed? It's here.

Visit our Facebook page, or drop by the personal pages for Greg and Jason.

Or follow us on Twitter: Here's Greg, and here's Jason.

And My Soul is Searchin' for the Sky

It was a week or two before Opening Day 1992. My car was still new as was my fascination with having my very own built-in cassette deck. I had just bought Rhino’s Soul Hits of the ’70s: Didn’t It Blow Your Mind Vol. 6. Playing Side B, driving home from work after midnight, I came across a song that was vaguely familiar.

Before it was over, the chorus had become mine.

‘Cause I want to be happy and free

Livin’ and loving for me

I want to be happy and free

Livin’ and loving for me

Like a natural man (like a natural man)

A natural man (like a natural man)

It was written by Bobby Hebb and Sandy Baron, but the emotion was purely that of Mr. Lou Rawls, the transcendent vocalist who died yesterday from cancer at the age of 72.

This 1971 classic, in fact, belonged to Lou Rawls, but he was kind enough to let me borrow it that night and I got a lot of use out of it. I kept rewinding the tape and singing along with it. By the time I got to my dark suburban street, I saw no point in parking until the song was over. I drove around the block a couple of times so I could absorb every drop of “A Natural Man”.

Fourteen years later, it’s a part of me still. Voices through a Toyota speaker, whether they belong to baseball announcers or silky soul singers, can have that kind of long-term effect on you.

Amazin’.

Comments are closed.